montreal tips

A friend asked for travel tips from Montreal, so I thought I would post something here too. We had a great time in there the only problem with the trip was the two days of rain. Touché. Claudia and I kept remarking that it was just crazy that they all speak French. How silly are we?

Take the public transportation there; it is super easy to get around and their busses are just wonderful. We got the three day pass for $17 and were able to hop on and off easily.

Shopping Tips:
Unicorn
http://www.boutiqueunicorn.com/Claudia got the most perfect bag made in Montreal at this store. It seemed like it was designed for her…and at a great price.

Couleurs
http://www.couleurs.qc.ca/menua.html
We bought new silverware at this shop. We had been in the market for quite some time. The owner spent time chatting with us and giving us tips. The rainy and cold day we stopped in on became warmer after a good chat!

There is a lot of good food to be had in Montreal:

Olive et Gourmando
www.oliveetgourmando.com
We ate breakfast here everyday. The pastries were just wonderful as was the coffee.

M:burger
http://restomontreal.ca/restaurants/index.php?section=viewresto&resto_id=2303&lang=enWalking out of a luxury department store a nice man and his daughter offered to help us figure out where we were going. He directed us to the new and hip M:burger. Great food and a great wait staff made our evening.

Great Tapas here:
http://www.tazaflores.com/Don’t let the lame website turn you off: Taza Flores was recommended to us by our hotel the first night. They told us no buses went there, but they lied. The tapas were tasty and hit the spot our first night.

Good Indian here:
http://www.bombaypalacenyc.com/Default.aspxThe last night of the trip we went to Indian at Bombay Palace. The food was spicy and filling. We could have done with only two entrees for the three of us.

Claudia and I hit the he contemporary art museum on our first day. They were between big shows, but had some thought provoking works up when we were there. http://www.macm.org/en/index.html

Finally, we went for a lovely bike ride along the river and over to the island where the World’s Fair was held. Renting the bike is a great option.

Enjoy.